He added that Lloyd had received a suspended sentence in 2012 which he did not break and for five years had stayed out of trouble.

District Judge, Mr Paul Copeland, said that he ‘didn’t accept for one second he acquired this weapon by mistake on the internet’ and that if he wanted a torch they were available in supermarkets.

He added that it was a ‘particularly aggressive piece of equipment’ and Lloyd had got it for protection of himself and his property.

Judge Copeland said the defendant was a man ‘given to aggressive behaviour’ and his conviction for drugs in the recent past had not gone unnoticed.

“If you appear again in the foreseeable future for any offence involving drugs you can anticipate going to jail,” he told Lloyd. “I’m alarmed this activity is going on in a house with a young child in it.”